The brushy cover inhabited by Townsend chipmunks protects them from most hawks while their diurnal habits prevent owls from feeding on them. Predatory mammals probably constitute their greatest menace. A weasel (_Mustela frenata_) was seen to follow a Townsend chipmunk into a pile of timbers near Cottage Lake, King County, and another was seen carrying a dead Townsend chipmunk at Stevens Pass, King County. Tracks around an area of blood and fur showed where a mink (_Mustela vison_) had killed a Townsend chipmunk near Cottage Lake, King County. [Illustration: FIG. 83. Distribution of the Townsend chipmunk in Washington. A. _Tamias townsendii townsendii._ B. _Tamias townsendii cooperi._] Shaw (1944: 278) discovered the brood nest of a Townsend chipmunk on Hurricane Ridge, Clallam County, 4,500 feet elevation. The burrow was in a cool, damp area among surface runs of moles (_Scapanus_), and led to an underground nest among the roots of a tree. The nest was formed of the gray, moss-like lichen (_Usnea_), lined within with sedge leaves (_Carex spectabilis_) and covered outside with leaves of the same sedge. A turning-about chamber was constructed near the entrance. The burrow was single and not branched. Three young, only two or three days old, were in the nest. =Tamias townsendii townsendii= Bachman _Tamias townsendii_ Bachman, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 8 (pt. 1):68, 1839. _Tamias quadrivittatus townsendii_ Allen, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 16:290, 1874. _Tamias asiaticus_ var. _townsendii_ Allen, Monog. N. Amer. Rodentia, Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 11:794, 1877. _Eutamias townsendii_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 11:195, July 1, 1897. _Type._--Lectotype obtained near the lower mouth of the Willamette River, Multnomah County, Oregon, by J. K. Townsend in 1834; in Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. _Racial Characters._--Color of sides rich tawny; dark stripes black or dark brown, and pale stripes cinnamon; underside of tail tawny. _Measurements._--Fifteen males and 10 females from western Washington average, respectively: total length 254.7, 258.6; length of tail 116, 122; hind foot 36.7, 37.1; ear 20.5, 20.4; weight 72, 81.2 grams.